rescued from dark despair!

One of my AGDT students arrived practically in tears at my 2:30 class yesterday. When asked what was wrong, she explained that her miniature "Nellie" doll had just accidentally rolled down the drain in front of my house. Poor thing, she was trying so hard to not be completely devastated, but having been an American-Girl-obsessed-8-year-old in my lifetime, I understood what she was going through. We decided to get through class and then see if we might be able to get the doll back.

Class ended a few minutes early, so the girls and I headed out to the drain. We tried flashlights and I was lying on the concrete slab trying to see inside, but the angle was such that all I could see was the little ladder inside the manhole. This gave me inspiration and I ran back to the garage to get the best tools I could find...a hammer and a screwdriver. The screwdriver proved ineffective, but the hammer was very useful in prying the manhole cover partially off the hole. WOW, those covers are incredibly heavy!!! By the time I had gotten a corner lifted, one of the moms had arrived and came over to help me drag it off. I was pretty afraid someone was going to lose a toe, but thankfully we were okay. Once the cover was off, we could look down inside the hole - and great joy! There was Miss Nellie O'Malley, resting facedown on the ground far below us. The girls were so thrilled to at least see her, but I still had to get her out.

(Nellie is the little spot of blue on the left side of the photo).

I ran into the house to get tennis shoes and then carefully lowered myself into the hole.

Nellie was unscathed aside from a bit of grass debris in her hair and on her dress.

I brushed her off and handed her up! Getting out of the hole was a little more difficult than getting in, but it was definitely worth it when I heard the cheers and saw the look on Holli's face when her doll was saved.


So the adventure ended. Crazy thing - I'm dying to go back down in that hole and explore. It's creepy...but definitely cool.